It may or may not be booze

According to rumors floating around campus that cannot be confirmed, Albion may be making a return to its former status as a party school.

Bottoms up! Alcohol may be a growing problem on Albion’s campus.

It is rumored that a number of sorority women, who may or may not actually go to Albion, may have consumed alcohol in disproportionate amounts at their formal, and an unconfirmed number of Wesley RAs may or may not have been forced to resign due to alcohol violations.

Despite the rampant rumors, no one in the administration seems to be concerned or willing to share information with the campus.

Genny Jreyerbiehl, assistant director of Greek life and student organizations, said that she could not deny or confirm that there had been a problem at any of the sorority formals.

“None of the national organizations have taken any actions of any kind, so obviously it wasn’t a problem,” Jreyerbiehl said.“Besides, any conversations that I had with the individuals who may or may not have imbibed a bit too much are strictly confidential, and I can’t discuss any of it.”

When asked if the national organizations had been informed of the incident, Jreyerbiehl said that there was no proof that there was an incident, so she saw no reason to raise alarm.

Other formal attendees believe that they remember something like that happening, but no one can say for sure who it was or how serious the person’s condition was.

“I think I remember some girl getting sick in the corner, but it smelled really bad so I didn’t go over there to see who it was,” said Amanda Johnston, Dearborn junior.

Despite the fact that RAs who have reportedly left their positions due to alcohol violations were living in the first-year dorm, Wichael Madsworth, director of residential life, has taken a similar stance.

“It cannot be confirmed that an unidentified person, who may or may not have been a student, who might have at one time been an RA, may have been fired or resigned over what may or may not have been an alcohol policy,” Madsworth said.

One student, who left his position and wished to remain anonymous, said that he was not fired.

“I don’t wish to comment other than to clarify that I resigned,” he said. “Other than that, it’s none of your (expletive) business.”

Incidents of alcohol violations may or may not be higher this year compared to past years, according to Sen Knyder, director of campus safety.

“It may seem like there are more reports of alcohol violations on campus,” Knyder said.“In reality, they’ve actually gone down.We don’t share records of such incidents, but if we did, I’m sure that’s what they would tell you.”

Not every incident gets reported, however.

“If it was reported every time someone got drunk, we’d never have any officers to give out parking tickets,” Knyder said. “We only hear about the really, really bad incidents.”

Students acknowledge a spike in boozing, but are just as unconcerned about it as the administration is.

“There’s nothing better to do on campus, so we drink,” said George Boy, Grand Rapids senior. “It’s better than everyone getting pregnant.”

One student, Randy Best, Traverse City sophomore, is excited about the trend.

“This just shows that Albion’s finally headed back to being the party school that it once was,” Best said. “Back in the ‘80s, we rocked. I know because my dad told me all about it. I can’t wait for this school to turn around.”

Holly Setter is the online editor. She is a senior, majoring in English and political science, with a minor in journalism and a concentration in public policy. Holly can be reached at hs12 [at] albion [dot] edu.

1 Comment

alcohol consumption can not be regulated until and unless an awareness campaign is in place round the year that makes the student community aware of the disadvantages of consuming liquor or other intoxicants..Its futile to expect that things would fall in line ….we’ve to root out the menace. We can illafford to cure the symptoms but not the desease in itself…